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Continued from page 2

In particular, the 90s seem like how the 60s are remembered by baby boomers - a time of untrammelled possibility, where everyone was making it up as they went along. The game developer thinking of starting their own business now faces a very different world - one in which publishers may be less adventurous, but also one where startup costs can be massively reduced. Instead of calling an EA helpline and talking their way to a producer, Rubin and Gavin might have gone into mobile gaming and stayed in their parents' home until they were bought by Zynga. Or Spector might have spurned Disney and sought crowdfunding for Sleeping Giants, the epic fantasy game he mothballed to take on Mickey.

I asked Ramsay what advice he had gleaned from his interviews for the modern gaming small businessman:

Be frugal: if you have money to burn, spend on only what you really need; otherwise, spend nothing. Don Daglow, whose company Stormfront Studios lasted 20 years, reminded us that keeping a studio running is about balancing unpredictable revenue and predictable expenses. You want to always be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Be versatile: stay open to opportunities and avoid locking yourself into any strategy, such as developing only games you want to play. When Troika Games found themselves without their next role-playing game contract, Tim Cain and his cofounders made the tough decision to close down. There were opportunities on the table, but none they could be passionate about. The result was the loss of a great team that created three amazing games in just five years.

Finally, be mindful: produce your flagship title to the best of your abilities, but don't forget that you have a business to run. Many new studios fall apart because everyone involved puts their all into the product and nothing into the company. You have to be fully aware that, at the end of the development cycle, your first game is one of many to come, so ensure that you have the necessary leadership and management expertise on your team to move the studio forward.

Of course, no advice can guarantee success - even players with the body of work, industry experience and contact books of a Rubin or a Spector may find that the movements of capital or corporate strategy undo their best-laid plans. And it's interesting that Ramsay's second piece of advice prioritizes the survival of the organization, possibly over the quality of its work. With the best will in the world, and for a number of reasons often outside their control, Troika shipped some fiercely wonderful, fatally wounded games - games so good that a community of fans set themselves to fixing them for years afterwards. What would have happened if they had taken a project they could not being themselves to care about is perhaps a question best left unanswered.

The example of Troika also highlights that not everyone should be an entrepreneur. Jason Rubin, quoting Jeff Stibel, describes entrepreneurship as a disease. Tim Cain of Troika caught a dose when he went from lead programmer on Fallout to founder of Troika. Now, he is back working with his many of his former colleagues at Obsidian Entertainment, with a hand in the upcoming Project Eternity, and seems significantly happier. He learned from his time as a founder that it was not for him, and that there are other metrics for success:

Going forward, I am going to pick jobs based on how happy they will make me, and not on how much they pay, how much responsibility I receive, or how much they may advance my career. I have done those things, and I wasn’t happier for it. I suppose these are the kind of life lessons that everyone has to learn for themselves at some point. This was my point.